How Convenient

I was just thinking that we certainly do get distracted by pretty butterflies.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Welcome distraction: "
The Bush White House may be taking secret solace in the Abramoff scandal. Suddenly, within the space of a single news cycle, political media attention has swung away from their wrongdoing to corruption on Capitol Hill.

The slightly ethereal debate over whether the president broke the law by authorising warrantless wiretaps on unsuspecting US citizens has been swept aside by a much more mundane dollars and cents scandal that could send half a dozen congressmen to jail."

Don't forget to write.

One detail from this week's court filing stands out as an illustration of the audacious greed of those accused. It involves the wife of an unnamed congressional staffer who was paid $50,000 in exchange for her husband's efforts to secure his boss's favorable vote. If this is what the wife of a mere staffer got, we can only imagine the scope of the revelations to come.

Um, Julie Myers certainly benefited as a mere wife.

Democrats aiming to tarnish this White House with the current scandal will have a tough time - there is no direct link. But there is something about that unnamed congressional staffer who felt he could pocket $50,000 dollars - the average annual salary for an honest American - and get away with it that points to a wider culture of hubris in this Republican-run town.

The Republicans control both the executive and legislative branches of government, leading to a "can do no wrong" attitude among many - the context to this particular scandal.

One Republican congressman commenting on the affair nailed it, saying. "The problem is that power corrupts, and we simply have too much of it."

Democrats can only hope voters agree with this assessment in November, and that they keep it at the front of minds when the White House comes back into play in 2008.

The same attitude underpinning a congressional staffer's belief that he is entitled to a bribe also fuels the administration's confidence that they are above the law when they fabricate intelligence or trample on constitutional rights.

That does seem to be the prevailing attitude of the people in power.

Tags: Bush, abramoff, warraantless wiretaps, above the law